is a combination of advanced soft-tissue techniques, organized to address the particular complaints or needs of each individual

Why is the phrase “Medical Massage” so controversial?

Maybe I haven’t had enough coffee, maybe I’m just unbelievably dimwitted, but I don’t understand why these two words get everyone’s knickers in a knot. Medical massage is the same as “Pregnancy Massage,” they are words that describe a target clientele for that particular therapist. And yet, no one ever gets upset over the use of the phrase ‘pregnancy massage.’

Medical Massage implies knowledge of medical information

Ralph Stephen’s description of medical massage is pretty much spot on. He even states that the target market for medical massage is

clients that have medical or rehabilitative considerations

A lot of his description is also applicable to Injury Treatment massage. While these two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, I will argue that there is a difference.

What is Injury Treatment massage

is a combination of advanced soft-tissue techniques, organized to address the particular complaints or needs of each individual

Oh, but isn’t that the same as medical massage? Yes, it is. The difference is in the target client. The typical injury treatment client doesn’t have any major medical issues. By major, I mean MAJOR. We all have clients with heart disease and diabetes.

Injury treatment work, like medical massage, is highly customized to that client on that day. It begins with assessment and palpation and leads to a treatment plan. The work is focused on treating the ‘why’ of the condition and that changes as the client progresses through treatment.

Medical massage is injury treatment massage and then some

Perhaps I’m taking this too far, but, if you are advertising yourself as medical massage, you had better be trained in working in a hospital or medical environment. I did an internship in hospital massage, and there is specialized information. You have to be able to massage someone who is in a hospital bed and unable to change positions. Can you massage the back of someone who is supine? You have to understand how to work around IV’s, ports, shunts, catheters, bandages, and a host of medical devices. You’ll learn to work through gloves, clothes, and blankets.

You need to have an extensive knowledge of common drugs and their contraindications. You need to have an extensive knowledge of common diseases and their contraindications. Did you know that you cannot use any oil or lotion on a client who is undergoing radiation treatment? Do you know why?

Medical massage therapists are going to attract clients who have other medical issues and diseases. MS, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, joint replacements, heart valve replacement, chemo and radiation therapy, -ostomy bags, amputations, broken bones, recent surgeries, and more. Most massage training touches on some of these conditions, but you do not get the depth of training or hands on time to truly be prepared for this clientele.

Medical massage helps the client choose the right therapist

People who are looking for relaxation, sports, or pregnancy massage will probably not call someone who advertises themselves as a medical massage. This helps the client get the massage they want. Much of client disappointment in massage could be cured by adequately describing what type of massage the client can expect. Too often, we are willing to take on any client who will come in the door. I remember that first year of practice – building a clientele is hard. But if you tell people that you are a relaxation specialist, the people looking for a relaxation massage will call you first and they won’t call your friend, the sports massage specialist. And vice versa. By declaring what you do, you can help your clients find the right therapist.

Picking your niche and advertising it helps your clients

This isn’t about which massage is better, it’s about helping your client find the right therapist. When you and your client are closely matched, you will have a loyal and delighted client. When there is a poor match, you have someone disappointed who is ready to head to the next therapist or give up on massage altogether.

How do you feel about Medical Massage?

Perhaps you’ve heard about the kerfuffle regarding the remarks made by the panelists on The View regarding massage. Joe Scarborough, as a guest on the show, started with the comment that nothing good can come from a 3 hour massage. Elizabeth Hasselback told a story about hiring a massage therapist to give her husband a massage and how the massage therapist was “hot” and how nervous that made her. To paraphrase: any massage has the potential to be sexual, any massage over an hour is definitely sexual in nature and we, as a profession, are basically prostitutes.

This has prompted the AMTA to ask for an apology from the producers of The View for disparaging the profession, a facebook group has formed to demand an apology from The View, and therapists are leaving comments on The View’s Facebook page. These are all good steps and I applaud everyone taking the initiative to let the world know that we are not going to just sit idly by while a lot of highly paid entertainers rehash the same tired, old stereotypes.

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Abraham Lincoln

Willful ignorance is defined as “the practice or act of intentional and blatant avoidance, disregard or disagreement with facts, empirical evidence and well-founded arguments because they oppose or contradict your own existing personal beliefs… Many times it is practiced due to laziness–people not wanting to have to do the work to rethink their opinions, the fear of the unknown, the fear of being wrong, or sometimes simply close-mindedness.”

So while I join in the calls for an apology, I don’t believe that it will have any real effect. Those who are willfully ignorant simply will never change their mind because it would require too much work for them to change their opinions. It is a waste of time to try to educate the willfully ignorant, we are better off trying to drown them out.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him think

There are the usual calls that we just need to educate the public about the true nature and value of massage. But who would we be educating? Elizabeth Hasselback should know better. Her husband, you see, is a professional athlete. Pro sports has been using massage to keep their palyers off the injured list and winning games for years. Most of them have massage therapists on staff or on call to work on their athletes after practices and games. She is either playing ignorant for the sake of ratings or she is woefully ignorant of what her husband’s work life involves. Either way, it is unlikely we will be able to educate her out of her insecurity.

A great view of Massage

I’m a fan of the Tour D’ France, which began July 3. I’m writing this after watching the first stage of the race on July 4th. This was a 200+ km stage through Belgium, flat, fast and dominated by the sprinters of the tour. After the start, one of the racers took off on a breakaway group where he, and one or two other riders, rode alone ahead of the main pack (called the peloton) for over 200km. This is HARD. You have no one to block the wind so you are working much harder than the riders in the main peloton. Towards the end of the race, one of the commenters made the remark that he would need an early bed time and a good massage to work out the lactic acid to be ready for tomorrow’s stage, another 200+km in the mountains.

In the world of professional cycling, massage is the norm

In a series of humorous commercials for Radio Shack*, Lance Armstrong’s fictitous office is shown with his training bike. In one of the spots, Lance is riding on his training bike talking to his assistant. Behind his assistant, very visible, is a fully made up massage table. It’s clear from the ad that Lance Armstrong is the kind of athlete that not only needs to be able to keep in top shape by riding his bike all day in his office but that he needs a regular massage to keep him in shape. At 38 years old, Lance Armstrong has won the Tour more than anyone in history and is currently in 4th place making him a real contender to win.

So, do we really need to Educate Educate Educate as some suggest?

I argue that we mustn’t give up, we must remain professional at all times, and we must advocate for the profession whenever we can, but we will never educate the willfully ignorant. Some people, my father included, will never truly believe that massage isn’t about sex. We will never change their minds. What we need to do is try to drown out those ignorant voices so that the public who is on the fence about trying massage isn’t discouraged from doing so.

Set the example

Allissa Haines has a great post on how some in the profession are setting a poor example and piliing on when someone has the courage to stand up and point out when someone acts less than professionally. I recommend you have a read.

What do you think? How do we go about fixing this and elevating the profession? Do you think I’m all wet?

* In another life, I used to work for Tandy Electronics designing products for Radio Shack. It’s pretty awesome to see them sponsor a team, especially one whose members include Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer.